Tasteful budgeting . . . Soup!

Soup was another good smell that came from my mother's kitchen. I enjoy the process because it reminds me of my mother. Soup is a good chill chaser, everyone likes it and it is easy on the budget. You can plan soup, however letting it happen makes for happy surprises. Whenever I trim a roast, bone chicken or cut the meat from chops, the bits and pieces go into the freezer. When the need for soup hits, I take out my hoard of frozen ‘discards' and make soup! And it doesn't matter much about the combination. All you need is a pot of water, your odds and ends of meat, a couple of onions, three bay leaves, a pinch of peppercorns, a rib of celery, an old carrot, three or four cloves of garlic and a day to simmer it all. Slow cooking is the key to bringing out the flavors. When you use a combination of meats and bones, you get a good stock for vegetable soup, tomato soup or cream soups. If you are after chicken soup, use the leftover bits of chicken (including the skin) and throw in a small pork bone if you have it. Watch for the sales. A couple of chicken breasts provide an adequate amount of meat for chicken soup. Vegetable Soup is easy once you have the stock. If you are in a hurry, use a 16 ounce bag of frozen, mixed vegetables. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, freshly grated garlic and perhaps, a sliver of fresh ginger, finely diced. Noodles or rice will make it more filling. Chicken Soup needs freshly grated garlic to taste, salt, pepper and a bit of poultry seasoning. A pinch of dried dill is good, too. Big, fat noodles are welcome in this soup. Add diced vegetables of your choice or go with the frozen ones. Just before serving, sprinkle some finely chopped green onion over each serving. Cream Soup can use any type of stock. Decide on what kind of soup, cream of broccoli, cream of asparagus, or whatever sounds good at the moment. Take three medium-sized potatoes, peel and slice very thin. Dice one yellow onion and two or three cloves of fresh garlic. Chop up your main vegetable ingredient of choice. In a large soup kettle, heat three tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the onions until almost golden, add the potatoes, vegetable, garlic, main vegetable, and two cups of stock. Cover and simmer gently until the potatoes are soft. After it has cooled, put the contents of the pot through a blender or food processor. Put puree back in kettle, add three cups of stock, one cup milk or cream, and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and any other herb or spice that sounds good . . . it probably will be!